Mariners Given a Fall Preview by the Yankees

Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees didn’t take long to show Seattle that they’re still the World Series champions.

Jeter hit a home run on the first pitch and Mike Mussina pitched seven scoreless innings Friday night as the Yankees won the matchup of baseball’s two best teams, 4-0, at New York.

“Everybody’s excited about this series, thinking it could be a prelim for what might happen in October,” Mussina said.

“Certainly it’s a confidence builder if you have a little bit of success against somebody. It gives you a good feeling going into a best-of-five or best-of-seven series.”

With a frenzied sellout crowd, flashbulbs popping and high anticipation, the game was played with a bit of an October feel--except for the 85-degree game-time temperature. And just like in the fall, the Yankees came out on top.

“We don’t care who the other team is,” Jeter said. “If we play well, we think we’ll win.”

The three-time defending World Series champions established themselves right away against the team chasing their American League record for victories. Jeter hit a first-pitch fastball from Paul Abbott into the seats in right-center to give New York a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

Shane Spencer and Alfonso Soriano also hit home runs for the Yankees, who moved a season-high six games ahead of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.

The Mariners, whose 87-35 record is five games off the Yankees’ record pace in 1998, have lost two in a row for the 10th time. They haven’t lost three in a row since losing Games 2-4 in last year’s American League championship series against the Yankees.

Oakland 9, Chicago 2--Eric Chavez hit a three-run homer and Jeremy Giambi added a solo shot to lead the Athletics at Comiskey Park.

Jermaine Dye drove in two runs and 30-year-old rookie Erik Hiljus pitched five-plus solid innings for the A’s, who have won 15 of 18 and are 26-9 since the All-Star break, best in the majors.

Hiljus (2-0), who hadn’t won since his first major league start June 30--a span of four starts--gave up two runs on six hits and no walks. He struck out two.

Tampa Bay 9, Minnesota 4--Tanyon Sturtze pitched seven innings and Russ Johnson drove in three runs with three hits at Minneapolis to help the Devil Rays hand the fading Twins their eighth consecutive loss.

Tampa Bay, the majors’ worst team, is 5-0 against the Twins and has outscored them, 26-10. Tied for first place in the American League Central only a week ago, the Twins are 4 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians.

The Twins, 9-25 since the All-Star break, have lost 11 of 12.

Baltimore 11, Boston 5--Jeff Conine drove in four runs at Boston and Jason Towers defeated the Red Sox for the second time in a week.

The loss was the first for new Manager Joe Kerrigan, who was given a two-year contract Thursday after Jimy Williams was fired.

Brook Fordyce tied a career high with four hits and drove in two runs for the Orioles, who won for the seventh time in 10 games. The Red Sox have lost seven of nine.

Detroit 4, Kansas City 2--Jose Lima gave up two runs in seven-plus innings at Detroit.

The game was the first between the teams since the series that included a bench-clearing brawl Aug. 10, but none of the main participants played. Royal first baseman Mike Sweeney started serving his 10-game suspension Friday, while Tiger catcher Rob Fick had the day off and Jeff Weaver pitched Thursday against the Angels.